Machine for forming screw threads



- Feb. 2, 1932. v I 0 u z 1,843,580

MACHINE FOR FORMING SCREW THREADS Filed June 5, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 L, v g 4 -H I 34 7 4a 5/\ -w' 6!. a 4:51;; F' s 4 Feb. 2, 1932. A. RODRIGUEZ 1,343,580

. MACHINE FOR FORMING SCREW THREADS Filed June 5, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 gwuvmtoz Patented Feb. 2, 1932 TEZJS ANDREW RODRIGUEZ, OF N HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR T0 SARGEN '1. -85 (30M- PA-NY, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT MACHINE r03 romaine sonnw THREADS Application filed June 5,

This invention relates tomachines for forming screw threads, and more particu larly to an im rovement thereof where-by such machines willbe more eiiicient in use, due partly to beingsubstanti ally automatic in operation as a result of the'se improve ments. The invention relates especially to a type of threading machine whereby threads may be rolled upon the threaded portion of an article, such as the shank portions ofscrew eyes or the like, and more especially to an improvementin the same by the provision of means to feed such articles toward and into the threading dies of the machine.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a thread forming machine which will be eliicien't in use and economical to operate, whereby the product may be inexpensively manufactured. v

Another object is to provide a substantially automatic thread rolling machine capable of efiiciently and accurately rolling threads upon the shanks of screw eyes'or other articles to be threaded.

Still another object is to provide an automatically operable feeding. mechanism for a thread forming machine, which will be posltive in action and will require but a minimum amount of the machine operators attention.

A further object of this invention is to provide a thread forming machine to which a plurality of the articles to be threaded may be supplied, andthen one at a time engaged and directed toward and into the thread forming means or" the machine in proper position to cause the same to forum threads thereon in an accurate manner. To these and other ends, the invention consists in the novel features and combinations of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In accompanying drawings:

Fig. l is a front view of the essential parts of a thread forming machine, embodying the features of this invention;

Fig. '2 is aside View of the part shown in Fig. 1;

g. 3 is a section on line 3- 3 of Fig. 2; g. 4: is a section on line of Fig. 1;

.1. is a section similar to Fig. 4, show- 1929. Serial No. 3683 57.

ing the operable parts thereof in: another position;

Fig. '6 section on line e ebr Fig. 2;

7 isa side view of certain parts oi' the feeding mechanism looking-in the direction W threads may be rolled upon an article by inserting the same between a pair of flat faced dies, which are slidable relatively to each other, the opposing faces thereof having means thereon that cooperate during: the sliding movement to form threads upon the article portion therebetween as it is rotated by the relative sliding action of the dies Inth-e embodiment shown, dies 10 and 11 are mounted in a machine frame 12, die 10 being detachably secured to the frame, and die 11 being secured to a die block 11 which is slidably mounted in ways-13 in the frame 12. Suitable means, (not shown) is provided to reciprocate die'block 11 along and parallel to die 10. The opposing faces'of dies 10 and 11 are spaced apart and are provided with cooperating thread forming grooves 14', an i llustration of which is shown in Fig. 5, and wherein. aknurled section 15 is also illustrated. The knurled section 15 isfor the purpose of grippingly engaging the article to be threaded to start it rotating before the thread forming grooves Ll engage the same.

When operating a thread. rolling machine,

such as illustrated, it has been the practice to insertthe part of the article to be threaded between the dies one at a time by hand. This operation was time consuming and necessi tated an operator for each machine. This invention contemplates the elimination of this operation, among other features, and ,for this purpose a feeding and depositing mechanism, shown in. combination with the relatively reciproeating dies 10 and 11, has been provided. The article that the machineillustrated is adapted to'thread'is a common screw eye, which is generally made of Wire and is provided with a loop portion having a threaded shank depending therefrom. It is desirable that the threads upon the shank be acc'u tions at right angles to each other.

rately formed so that the screw eyes may be readily secured where desired. This desideratum necessitates that the shank portion be directed toward and between the dies 10 and 11, at substantially a right angle thereto.

The feeding and depositing mechanism embodying certain features of this invention, and which is particularly adapted to be used in connection with a screw eye shank threading operation, is mounted upon the frame 12 in cooperative relation with the relatively reciprocable dies 10 and 11. This mechanism is provided with an article reservoir 16, which in this instance, comprises an elongated tubular member in which the loop portions of the screw eyes are disposed with the shanks thereof protruding through a slot 17 formed in and extending along one side of the reservoir 16. The reservoir 16 is vertically disposed and is secured in a standard composed of a two-part vertically adjustable bracket 1.8, 18, a two-way transversely adjustable part 19, and a frame engaging part 20.

Part 18 and part 18" secured thereto-are slidably connected to part 19 by suitable cooperating means 21 formed in part 18, and may be clamped in adjusted position by screws 22. Part 19 is slidably connected to part 20 by cooperating means comprising a block 23, whereby part 19 is transversely adjustable relatively to part 20 in two direc- Part 19 may be secured to block 23 in one of its adjusted positions relatively to part 20 by means of screws 23, and block 23 may be sepositions of part 19 relatively to part 20 by screws 24. Part 20 is secured to the frame 12 by screws 25.

The screw eyes, but for the provision of a resilient supporting member 26 that extends across the mouth of the member 16, at the lower end thereof, would, due to the action of gravity upon the shank portion thereof,

tend to turn into an upright position with their shank portions extending downwardly. The supporting member 26 is secured to part 18 by a screw 27 and extends across an open ing in part 18 to support the shanks of the screw eyes, the part 18 being bored to receive the lower end of member 16 and slotted as at 28 to permit the protruding shanks of 5- the screw eyes to pass therethrough. 5 Y

A rockable carrier 29 is secured to a shaft 30, which is ou'rnaled in a depending extension 31 of part 18. The carrier 29 is areshaped and is extended substantially 90, be-

ing connected to the shaft 30 by means of a spoke portion 32, disposed substantially intermediate the ends of the are shape thereof,

' and a hub portion 33, disposed at the center of the arc shape and keyed to the shaft 30. One end 34 of the carrier 29 is slotted as at 35 and is formed as at 36 to receive the loop portion of the screw eye, and the remaining portion thereof is slotted as at 35 in which the member 26 is disposed. Preferably, hardened steel inserts 37 are provided and secured to the carrier 29 at this point, in order to offset possible wear. The forma tion at 36 in the carrier end 34, or the inserts 37, is such that a shoulder 38 is formed which, when the parts are in the position shown in Figs. 2 and 4, lies in back of the material of the loop portion of the screw eyes in readiness to engage the same when the carrier 29 is rocked in one direction by the shaft 30. Such movement of the carrier will engage and carry the screw eye beyond the end of the supporting member 26, releasing the screw eye therefrom, whereupon the remaining articles or screw eyes in the reservoir 16 will be permitted to drop, and the loop portion of the next succeeding one will seat upon the peripheral surface of carrier 29, the member 26 which is disposed in slot 35 sup porting the shank portion of the lowermost screw eye and preventing the same from turning and directing its shank downwardly.

Further rocking of the carrier 29 will move it to aposition, as illustrated in Fig. 5, in which the screw eye will have been carried and moved from a horizontally disposed position into a vertically disposed one, in which the shank part thereof will be directed downwardly substantially at right angles to the dies 10 and 11. Gravity acting upon the article or screw eye will now move. it into cooperating slots 39 and 40,'formed respectively in opposed edges of a pair of hardened cured to part 20 in another of the adjusted steel inserts provided in the part 18 in a forwardly and downwardly extending arm 41 thereof. The shank portion of the screw eye will then rest upon cooperating fingers 42 and 43, formed respectively on opposed ends of a pair of jaws 44 and 45. The jaws 44 and 45 are resiliently urged toward each other by the spring tension of leaf springs 46, one of which acts uponeach jaw. The loop portion of the screw eye when the shank thereof is resting upon the fingers 42 and 43, is disposed in slots formed in jaws 44 and 45, and which are, in effect, continuations of slots 39 and 40. The lower ends of jaws 44 and 45 are held together by the springs 46 sufficiently to retain the screw eyes therebetween in substantially the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 6.

The above action of the carrier 29 is caused by the cooperation of a roller 47, which is rotatably mounted upon one end of a crank 48, with a cam slot 49 formed in a block 50, which is secured to the reciprocable die block 11 by screws 51. The crank 48, at its other end is secured to shaft 30. The roll 47 by following the angle of the slot 49 rocks the crank 48, and through shaft 30 rocks the carrier 29 to engage and carry a screw eye from the reservoir 16 to the dies 10 and recess 36 and be in readiness to be carried toward the dies 10 and 11 as previously de scribed.

A rockable lever 52 is provided to strip or force the article or screw eye free from the retaining action of the jaws 44 and 45, and into position between the dies 10 and 11 to be acted upon thereby. The lever 52 is secured to a shaft 53, which is journaled in a further extended portion of part 18, and is provided with a spring actuated article engaging end or finger 54. The finger 54 is pivoted at 55 to the outer end of lever 52, and is adapted to enter the slot in the carrier 29, and between the jaws 44 and 45 to engage the article or screw eye and press it downwardly out of the slots 39 and 40, so that the shank portion to be threaded will extend beyond the fingers 42 and 43, into the position as shown in Fig. 5. Such action is caused by an actuating block 56, secured to the reciprocating die block 11 by means of a screw 57, disposed in a slot 58 in the block, the slot 58 being elongated to permit adjustment of the block 56 when desired.

The block 56 is adapted to engage a roller 59, disposed on an end of a crank lever 60, which in turn is secured to theshaft-53. The block 56 is so positioned upon the die block 11 that the lever 52 will be operated when the die is substantially in return position in readiness to receive another article between it and die 10. A- spring 61, secured at one end to the crank lever 60, and at its other end to the part 18, is adapted to return the lever 52 to its inoperative position against a stop pin 62, as shown in Fig. 4, when the block 56 is carried by the die block 1-1 out of engagement with the roller 59. Such movement of the die block 11 also returns the carrier 29 into article receiving position, due to the cooperation of the cam slot 49 and roller 47 whereupon the carrier 29 is inposition to engage and act upon another article or screw eye. The stop 62 also limits the movement of the carrier 29, due to the engagement of the carrier therewith at substantially the completion of the rocking stroke of the carrier, as shown in Fig. 5. A spring 63 is connected to finger 54 and re' siliently acts thereon, tending to retain it in alignment with lever 52. The tension of spring 63 is adjustable by means of a screw 64 and nut 65, whereby the finger 54 may be provided with SUfllClGIlt pressure to move the article from the jaws 44 and 4.5, in between. the dies 10 and 11, at the knurled portions15 thereof, withoutmarring or 0therwise damaging the article. After having threads formed thereon, the article or screw eye drops from the dies 10 and 11 by the action of gravity,.assisted by aspring pressed wiper (not shown), according to the usual practice in machines of this type.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that this invention provides a machine for forming screw threads, which is substantially automatic, eflicientin use, and economical to operate. By the provision of a reservoir from which the articles are removed one at a:

time by a positively acting mechanism and presented to the thread forming dies in proper position to be operated upon thereby,

permits the use of the same for threading articles that vary in dimensions and other requirements, the bracket 18, 18 being vertically adjustable to permit the adjustment of this bracket to compensate for different lengths of the thread portions of the article,

and part 19 being transversely adjustable in two directions in order to permit it and bracket 18, 18 to be adjusted transversely to dispose the article in proper position relatively to the dies 10 and 11. The use of this machine on articles of varying dimensions is facilitated by the provision of removably hardened steel inserts, and that the jaws 44 and 45 are removable for replacement by others. As is usual in machines of this type, the dies 10 and 11 may also be replaced by others in order to form the thread size requirements of the article to be threaded.

' While I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention, it is understood that it is not to be limited to all of the details shown, but is capable of modification and variation which will lie within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

hat I claim is:

1. In a thread forming mach-inc, means to form threads upon the shank portion of an article, a reservoir to receive a plurality of the articles superimposed one upon the other with the shank portions thereof directed in the same direction and disposed in a horizontal plane, and rockable means to engage and remove said articles from said reservoir, one at a time, and to present them to said thread forming means with their shank portions disposed in a, vertical'plane- 2 In a thread forming machine, means to form threads upon the shank portion of an article, a reservoir to receive a plurality ofthe articles superimposed one upon the other with the shank portions thereof directed in the same direction and disposed in a horizontal plane, and rockable means to engage and remove said articles from said reservoirone at a time, and to present them to said thread forming means with their shank portions disposed in a vertical plane, said rockable means being operable by movement of said thread forming means. 7

3. In a thread forming machine, a pair of thread forming dies, one being reciprocable relatively to the other, means to hold a plurality of articles to be threaded in a horizontally disposed posit-ion, one above the other, means to engage the articles one at a time and to direct the engaged article toward said pair of dies while turning it into a vertically disposed position, and means to urge the article out of engagement with the directing means and between said dies.

4;. In a thread forming machine, a pair of thread formingdies, one being reciprocable relatively to the other to form threads upon an article disposed therebetween during one stroke thereof, means to hold a plurality of articles to be threaded in a horizontally disposed position, one above the other, and means to engage the articles one at a time and to direct the engaged article toward said pair of dies while turning it into a Vertically disposed position, said last named means being operable by said reciprocating die during its inoperative stroke.

5. In a thread forming machine, thread forming means, and means to present an article to said thread forming means comprising means to receive a plurality of articles and to retain them in a horizontally disposed position,-a carrier adapted, to engage an article in said receiving means, carry it away there from, and to direct it vertically toward said thread forming means, and means to urge the article so acted upon into said thread torn-- ing means.

6. In a thread forming machine, thread forming means, and means to present an article to said thread forming means comprising a rockable carrier adapted to receive an article disposed. horizontally, and means to rock said carrier to direct the article carried thereby toward said thread forming means in a vertically disposed posit-ion.

7. In a thread forming machine, thread forming means, means to engage an article having its shank portion disposed in one plane ant, to direct the article toward said thread forming means with its shank portion disposed in another plane substantially at right angles to the first mentioned plane, and means to urge the article from said engaging means and into said thread forming means.

8. in a metal working, machine, a reciprocable part, means to receive a plurality of articles and to retain all of them disposed in one plane, means to engage one of the articles and turn it into another plane while directing it toward said reciprocating part, and means to engage the article after being so directed and to urge it into engagement with said reclprocating part.

9. In a metal working machine, a reciprocable part, means to receive a plurality of ar..

ticles and to retain all of them disposed in one plane, means to engage one of the articles and turn it into another plane while directing it toward said reciprocating part, and means to engage the article after being so directed and to urge it into engagement with said reciprocating part, and means movable with said reciprocating part and adapted to act upon said article directing means to operate the same.

rocating part and adapted to engage said ill.

ticleurging means to operate'the same.

11. in metal Working machine, a reciprocable part, means to receive a plurality of articles and to retain all of them disposed in one plane, means to engage one of the articles.

and turn it into another plane while directing it toward said reciprocating part, and means to engage the article after being so directed. and to urge it into engagement with said reciprocating part, and means movable with,

said reciprocating part and adapted to act upon said article directing means to operate the same, and means carried by said reciprocating part and adapted to engage said article urging means to operate the same.

12. In a metal working machine, a reciprocable part adapted to perform work upon an article, means to retain an article in one plane, means to receive an article in a plane disposed at an angle to said article retaining means, and rockable means to remove and carry an article from said retaining means to said article receiving means when rocked in one direction and to return it to its initial position when rocked in another direction. I

13. In a metal working machine, a reciprocable part adapted to perform work upon an article, means to retain an article in one plane, means to receive an article in a plane disposed at an angle to sai article retaining means, and means to remove and carry an article from said retaining means to said article receiving means, and means to remove the article from said receiving means and urge it into engagement with said re-ciprocable part for operation thereof thereon.

14. In a metal working machine, a reciprocable part adapted to perform work upon an article, means to retain an article in one plane,

means to receive an article in a plane disposed at an angle to sald artlcle retaining means,

10. In a metal working machine, a recipro and means to remove and carry an article from said. retaining'means to article receiving means, and means movable with said reciprocable part to operate said article carrying means.

15. In a metal working macl1ine,'a reciprocable part adapted to perform work upon an article, means to retain an article in one plane, means to receive an article in a plane disposed at an angle to said article retaining means, and means to remove and carry an article from said retaining means to said article re ceiving means, and means to remove the article from said receiving meansand; urge it into engagement with said reciprocable part for operation thereof thereon, and means movable with said reciprocable part to operate said article carrying means and said article urging means. 7

16. In a machine of the type described, a reciprocable arti'cle forming part, a holder for articles that have an extended portion to be formed by said reciprocable part, means to retain the articles in said holder with the extended portion of each disposed substantially parallel to the direction of reciprocation'of said reciprocable part, and rockable means to carry the article from said holder and to direct the extended portion of the article toward said reciprocable part at substantially right angles to the direction of reciprocation of said reciprocable part.

17. In a machine for threading the shank portion of an article, horizontally disposed and relatively reciprocating threading dies to receive the shank portion therebetween, a verticallydisposed holder adapted to receive a plurality of articles and having an axially extending slot to receive the shank portions of the articles, means to retain a plurality of superimposed articles with the shank portions thereof directed horizontally in said holder, and means to engage and carry the articles from said holder and to direct the shank portions thereof vertically towards said dies.

18. In a machine of the type described, reciprocable article forming means, an article reservoir, means to releasably retain articles disposed in one plane within said reservoir, an article receiving means adjacent said forming means and adapted to releasably retain an article therein in a plane substantially at right angles to the plane of the articles in said reservoir, and swingable means to engage the articles in said reservoir and carry them one at a time to said article receiving means when swung in one direction and to return it to its initial position when swung in a reverse direction- I v 19. In a machine of the type described, reciprocable article forming means, an article reservoir, means to releasably retain articles disposed in one plane within said reservoir, an article receiving means adjacent said forming means and adapted to releasably retain an article therein in aplane substantially at right angles to .the plane of the articles in said reservoir, and means to engage the ar-- ticles in said reservoir and carry them one at a time to said article receiving means, and means to engage the article in said receiving means and dispose it in operative position with respect to said forming means for operation thereof thereon.

20. In a machine of the type described, reciprocable article forming means, an article reservoir, means to releasably retain articles disposed in a horizontal plane within said reservoir, an article receiving means adj a cent said forming means and adapted to releasably retain an article in a vertical plane, and a rockable article engaging means to release an article from said retaining means and deliver it to said receiving means.

21. In a machine of the type described, a pair of horizontally and relatively reciprocable article forming members, a vertically disposed article reservoir, means to releasably retain horizontally disposed articles in said reservoir, a vertically disposed article receiving member adjacent said forming members, means to releasably retain vertically disposed articles in said receiving means, and a member rockable in a vertical plane and adapted to engage the articles and to horizontally release them one at a time from said reservoir and vertically deliver them into said article receiving member.

22. In a machine of the type described, a pair of horizontally and relatively reciprocable article forming members, a vertically disposed article reservoir, means to rel'easably retain horizontally disposed articles in said reservoir, a vertically disposed article receiving member adjacent said forming members, means to releasably retain vertically disposed articles in said receiving means, and amember rockable in a vertical plane and adapted to engage the articles and to horizontally release them one at a time from said reservoir and vertically deliver them into said article receiving member, and a swingabl'e part adapted. to engage the article in said member and force it between said forming means.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 28th day of May, 1929.

ANDREW RODRIGUEZ. 

